Kane scores lone goal in Tottenham’s win over Man City

London, Feb 5 (EFE).- Harry Kane scored the early lone goal that cinched Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 home win over Manchester City on Sunday, and although it’s rare for an Arsenal fan to celebrate a Spurs tally, this one kept Arsenal five points clear of the Sky Blues at the top of the Premier League table.

Kane scored his record 267th goal for the Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, thus preventing Pep Guardiola’s men from taking advantage of the fact that Arsenal fell to Everton on Saturday.

It was a result that allowed the Gunners to breathe a little more easily, having played one game fewer than City.

Guardiola, during the first half, tried a defense with three midfielders and no wingers, supported by the pivoting Rico Lewis and Rodri.

The team, with this new configuration, wasn’t able to get clicking, however, since the set-up left too much space between the lines, allowing Tottenham to get in between them and that – along with a dumb mistake by Rodri – proved fatal.

Fifteen minutes into play, although City had dominated things in albeit in a rather lackluster manner, Rodri delivered an early Christmas gift to the home team in the half-moon, with Hojbjerg managing to control the ball and sending it to Kane for the match’s historic – and only – tally.

With the goal, Kane surpassed Jimmy Greaves as the Spurs’ top scorer, and of course the fans in the stands went wild.

Guardiola, although his plan wasn’t working, didn’t initially make any changes, but neither Erling Haaland nor the other players were able to turn their individual efforts into points on the board, with Riyad Mayrez, Julian Alvarez and De Bruyne fruitlessly trying their luck and skill.

Tottenham’s Christian Romero was booted after earning two yellow cards in the 26th and 87th minutes and the team played shorthanded for the final 10 minutes, including stoppage time, during which Man City tried hard for the equalizer, but it was not to be.

With the win, the team secured three points that are vital for its chances to grab a Champions berth, given that the Spurs are presently in fifth place with 39 points, one behind Newcastle United in the No. 4 slot and having played one additional game.

Lineups:

Totttenham Hotspur: Lloris; Emerson, Romero, Dier, Davies, Perisic (Sessegnon, m.79); Hojbjerg, Bentancur; Kulusevski (Sanchez, m.88), Son (Bissouma, m.84) and Kane.

Manchester City: Ederson; Lewis, Walker, Akanji, Ake; Rodri, Grealish, Silva (Gundogan, m.84); Mahrez (De Bruyne, m.59), Alvarez and Haaland.

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